Black Hawk Village

Hard to believe something like this is a domestic tourist attraction.

Someone left some graffiti. Probably a name? Maybe done before moving out.

A bit more scribbling.

That looks happy, whatever it's supposed to be.

One thing I find weird about anywhere on post is how the ground looks more North American. Sidewalks surrounded by grass, and things are flattened down more.

I'm even unsure if we're supposed to keep off the grass or not. We're not allowed on the playground equipment./

Some historic photos were on display near the playground.

This aerial image shows Yongsan Railyard, and the water body beyond it is Manchocheon.

HAGS.

What even is this?

Not the nicest lawn but the flowers are nice.

From here you can see American and Korean housing side by side.

Park.

They suer had a lot of playgrounds.

This is clearly the photo op place.

There's more scribbling on the HAGS slot machine.

I need to come back when the sun is better.

This was an open house that was closed.

A very small basement.

Part of the wall around the place is on display.

One building has a scale model of the whole base.

This part is Black Hawk Village.

For this angle I'm standing approximately where my home is. I discovered recently in the 1980s there was an early plan to build a road from Dongjak Bridge through the base, going through the road in Huam-dong which would be widened, and over the shoulder of the hill past Namdaemun to downtown. Sounds convenient but hopefully it won't happen.

And there's Manchocheon.

Here it is up close.

I think I was trying to locate the navy club.

This design seems to show a possible way to revitalise Manchocheon. Rather than just preserving the stream, they'd let it meander all over the place. I wonder if this was its original course. The only problem I have with this is wondering about the Japanese-era bridge.

This version seems to imagine keeping its original course, but I'm a little unsure how many of the other blue areas are supposed to be water. Possibly there'd be a lot?

I went back to get a shot that includes the tower. I drove along some of these roads to get here.

I took this mostly for the map. The bus tour course is interesting.

Here's a view of the real Namsan.

There is still razor wire all around.

Another view of the broken wall.

And a barbecue area. Rather than just have this preserved as a relic for people to wander by, they should have it set up to serve barbecue hot dogs and hamburgers.

This was one of the few loose objects on site. I wondered if it was left here intentionally.

Even though the houses are American-style, the tiles are Korean-style.

Yet another playground.

That's a little creepy.

That I've never seen before.

Click for full size.

So we can't bring pets, even though Americans used to have them here?

I photographed the entirety of this mural and stitched it together as a panorama. Likely some of the buildings in the background repeat. It's funny that we don't get to see how Americans see the same landscape. Click for full size.

Before I left I stopped off at the first building to wash my hands. It felt sort of like an American washroom. They hoarded like Americans too. I wonder where the water comes from.

Heading out the front gate.